Success! A Rundown of The Great Echo Park CleanUp

There were more than a dozen of us in total, gathered in the shade of the trees that line Reservoir Street this past Saturday. Ben, an 11-year-old and transplant from New Jersey, arrived with Christine. Newer residents of Echo Park — Jon and Valerie — saw the Facebook event page from Echo Park Now’s linkage and volunteered their time. Virginia decided the cleanup would help her fight New York City jet-lag, post wedding party week.

Sure, it was 9 a.m. on a sleepy Saturday and we had all made the most of our Twitter grassroots cleanup. There was boxed coffee from Starbucks, o.j., and power bars — courtesy of Josh Post and Marietta Torriente — while Delilah’s own Emily provided muffins, scones, and cupcakes as reward for our post garbage efforts.

Passerby asked who we worked for, or simply said “God bless,” as we cleaned the streets.

At around 11:30 a.m., we met back at the church for a rundown of our efforts and casually brainstormed about the next cleanup. David, who lives in Hi-Fi, suggested cleaning up the south end of Echo Park. Josh Post and I agreed.

Josh S.; Valerie; JP

Josh Post; David; Emily

JP; Valerie; Josh S.; Jovelle; Marietta

September, anyone? Yes, keep your eye out for the next Great Echo Park CleanUp.